News – Pharmacy Research UKhttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org
Improving the health of the public through excellence in pharmacy research.Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:39:30 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2Blog: Putting together a summary of a clinical trial for lay readershttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/blog-putting-together-summary-clinical-trial-lay-readers/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/blog-putting-together-summary-clinical-trial-lay-readers/#respondMon, 18 Sep 2017 10:24:36 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7623Guidance from the European Union on writing a lay summary for clinical trials, in order for members of the public to better understand information relating to drug trials has gone under the radar. This makes it challenging for researchers to tackle how to summarise information of a scientific nature, relating to a clinical trial, in […]

]]>Guidance from the European Union on writing a lay summary for clinical trials, in order for members of the public to better understand information relating to drug trials has gone under the radar. This makes it challenging for researchers to tackle how to summarise information of a scientific nature, relating to a clinical trial, in a lay-friendly manner. Professor Theo Raynor highlights the key considerations required in order to write an effective lay summary.

Lay–friendly headings – a major concession

Probably the most important change since the consultation is that the Commission has replaced the indigestible elements in the clinical trial regulation with user-friendly equivalent headings. For example, ‘Investigational medical products used’ has become ‘Which medicines were studied?’

A further concession that will aid readability is the option to change the order of the headings, if appropriate, and add subheadings. Our user testing of a variety of lay medicines information shows that good headings and sub-headings are one of the reader’s best friends.

Size is not everything

The guidance is confused in terms of length of summaries. It says they should be as short as possible (and that they should not simply copy text from the technical summary). However it goes on to say that explaining technical information in simple language may mean more words and, indeed, a longer summary. Later it says that adding text may decrease comprehension; this is not true. What I think they mean (or should mean) is that the summary should be as short as is consistent with an understandable and navigable document. This can be achieved with a good layout and design, as is briefly mentioned in the guidance. Our experience of testing with real people shows that, by following such good practice, even a long summary can be made acceptable and usable.

Don’t forget design

The importance of design to readability lacks prominence in the guidance. There is a small section on ‘Visuals’, but this focuses on visual aids, rather than the overall layout and design of the summary. Whether a document looks attractive and easy to read is crucial to its effectiveness, in terms of whether it is read at all. If it is read, then the layout is critical in enabling people to navigate around it. Notably, the layout of the guidance document itself is disappointing, setting a poor example.

Readability formulae and the ‘backwards test’

Another downside relates to the prominence given to so-called ‘readability formulae’ (or ‘language-specific reading tests’), even though the large amount of ‘how to’ text for such formulae is now relegated to an appendix. Sponsors are still encouraged to use these formulae – even though the guidance states what is now accepted generally: that they are a very limited tool as they usually work on the average number of words per sentence and syllables per words, and everyone knows you can write short sentences with short words that make no sense at all. Equally, if you write a piece of information backwards it would have the same score as if you write it forwards, because they are the same words in sentences of the same lengths.

Say it like it is

The guidance suggests that the writer should use simple, everyday language; I like to think of this in terms of being conversational. Many lay people don’t do much reading or writing. They communicate by talking, listing to conversations, the radio and television, and their literacy levels are low. This means that writing conversationally is reaching out to those people. Most lay people would not consider writing a letter to a newspaper, but they may consider phoning in to a radio show, for example. A good way of determining whether what you have written is, indeed, lay friendly, is to read it aloud to see whether it sounds conversational.

Generally, this means using the active, rather than the passive, voice, and there is a neat example of how this can be done: ‘Researchers studied the effect of X’, rather than ‘The effect of X was studied’. Another good example is using the lay term with the technical term bracketed after it: ‘Cancer that has spread to another part of the body (metastases)’.

Another piece of bad practice quashed by the new guidance is use of the term ‘sufferers’ – people don’t suffer from an illness; they have an illness, and they may not consider themselves to be suffering.

Headline section?

There has been much talk about the use of a headline section in patient information, notably in package leaflets. This is not explicit in the guidance, but it mentions ‘presenting the big picture before the detail’. Our research and testing of a variety of documents for patients and lay people suggest that they like such headline or key information sections at the start of a document or webpage.

Infographics are not a panacea

There is a tendency to assume that infographics, and putting anything into a pictorial form (called ‘visuals’ in the guidance), will be better and easier to understand. This is not the case; our testing shows that even simple graphs are often misunderstood. Indeed, the guidance acknowledges that using imagery that does not extend and enhance understanding is not helpful.

Patient input

In a number of places the guidance talks about involving patients in the development and review of summaries ‘to assess comprehension and value’. It notes that this won’t always be feasible, but our experience is that, when sponsors apply ‘user testing’ to sample summaries during template development, it can be very helpful. Consider a user panel or expert patient input.

Guidance & consistency versus innovation

Finally, while consistency will help navigation for people who regularly use these summaries, we should not feel bound by this guidance; after all, it is only guidance. There needs to be balance between consistency and allowing innovation in improving summaries’ usefulness, particularly those identified through lay involvement and user testing.

About the author:

Theo Raynor is co-founder and academic adviser to Luto Research and Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Leeds. He has spent his 40 years of pharmacy practice and research on the quest for improved information for people about their medicines.

This blog has been reposted, the original content can be located in the link below, written by Professor Theo Raynor.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/blog-putting-together-summary-clinical-trial-lay-readers/feed/0Second project grant announcedhttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/second-project-grant/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/second-project-grant/#respondTue, 12 Sep 2017 13:50:57 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7602Helping patients decide: Aberdeen team to develop an innovative decision-aid tool Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) is delighted to announce the second recipient of our 2017 project grants as part of our £200k investment in major grants. Professor Mandy Ryan and colleagues from the University of Aberdeen has been awarded £100k to develop a person-centred discrete choice […]

Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) is delighted to announce the second recipient of our 2017 project grants as part of our £200k investment in major grants. Professor Mandy Ryan and colleagues from the University of Aberdeen has been awarded £100k to develop a person-centred discrete choice experiment (DCE) to promote shared decision making in the patient-pharmacist interaction over two years.

The aim of this project is to employ the DCE methodology to develop and pilot a personalised computer-based Decision Aid Tool (DAT) to facilitate Shared Decision Making (SDM) in a pharmacist-led consultation. This methodology involves asking patients to compare two or more treatment alternatives and state their preference in a series of hypothetical scenarios. Through respondent’s repeated choices, one can mathematically work out information on the relative importance of treatment attributes, how patients trade between treatment attributes, and the overall treatment benefit to patients. The study will be done in the context of managing chronic pain as this is a condition where pharmacists are increasingly involved. As patients often have varying criteria for success in pain management (for example pain reduction, medication side effects, physical activity, ability to maintain normal routines) SDM is crucial.

The project will include a review of the literature followed by qualitative interviews with patients, pharmacists and doctors to confirm what is important in the delivery of chronic pain management; the development of the DAT; and a pilot randomized trial to access the acceptability of the DAT.

Dr Rachel Joynes, Executive Director at PRUK said:

“We are delighted to fund Prof Ryan and her team at the University of Aberdeen. Pharmacists are increasingly involved in the management of chronic pain and there are clear benefits to involving the patient in decisions around their care. We hope this research will result in a tool that will benefit all pharmacists in the management of chronic pain.”

Professor Mandy Ryan, Lead Researcher, said:

“We are delighted with the funding which will allow us to develop an innovative tool to help patients with chronic pain make treatment decisions. This project will build upon our existing strong multidisciplinary research team with doctors, pharmacists and health economists to help improve patient-pharmacist interaction in primary care and ultimately the decision quality for patients with chronic pain.”

PRUK is the principle funder of pharmacy research in the UK. Founded as a result of a merger in 2012 of two previous research funding charities, PRUK has a broad programme of research in place. PRUK funds both research projects and individual bursaries to improve skills across the pharmacy sector. Registered charity number 1148335.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/second-project-grant/feed/0Pharmacy Research UK Announces First Project Grant Recipienthttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pharmacy-research-uk-announces-first-project-grant-recipient/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pharmacy-research-uk-announces-first-project-grant-recipient/#respondTue, 12 Sep 2017 07:00:39 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7590Use of patient-held information about medication As part of Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK)’s £200k investment in major project grants, we are delighted to announce first recipient of our 2017 project grants. Professor Bryony Dean Franklin from UCL School of Pharmacy has been awarded nearly £93k to investigate the use of patient-held information about medication (PHIMed) […]

As part of Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK)’s £200k investment in major project grants, we are delighted to announce first recipient of our 2017 project grants. Professor Bryony Dean Franklin from UCL School of Pharmacy has been awarded nearly £93k to investigate the use of patient-held information about medication (PHIMed) to support medicines optimization over 18 months. Professor Franklin is Professor of Medication Safety at the UCL School of Pharmacy and Director of the Centre for Medication Safety and Service Quality at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

The overall aim of the project is to identify how PHIMed is used in practice, barriers and facilitators to its use, and key features of PHIMed that support medicines optimisation, leading to development of an optimal PHIMed solution for testing in a future trial. The research will involve collaboration with the UCL Interaction Centre and involves two lay partners as collaborators to ensure that patient and carer perspectives are embedded throughout.

Specific objectives of the project are:

To explore perceptions of patients, carers and healthcare professionals around barriers and facilitators, benefits and unintended consequences of PHIMed;

To document how PHIMed is currently used in practice;

To identify key PHIMed features likely to be required to support medicines optimisation;

To describe PHIMed tools used / available within the UK, both paper and electronic, and the extent to which these provide the key features identified;

To inform development of a PHIMed solution for testing in a controlled trial on patient outcomes;

To make initial recommendations in relation to the current use and future development of PHIMed.

Dr Rachel Joynes, Executive Director at PRUK said:

“We are delighted to fund Professor Franklin and her team at UCL. The quality of applications for these grants was extremely high and we are excited to fund this vitally important project. The risks of poor health information transfer are well known and we hope that this project will start to address some of those issues.”

Professor Franklin said:

“We know that when people move from one healthcare setting to another (such as from their own home to hospital), errors can occur in communication of information about their medicines. We also know that many patients want to be more active partners in their healthcare and that many use different types of patient-held information about medication (abbreviated to “PHIMed”), both paper and electronic, to help them remember their current medicines. However, we do not know how PHIMed should best be used or what the most important features are. Discussions with patients and carers also suggest this is an important area. I am therefore absolutely delighted that PRUK are enabling us to do this research.”

PRUK is the principal funder of pharmacy research in the UK. Founded as a result of a merger in 2012 of two previous research funding charities, PRUK has a broad programme of research in place. PRUK funds both research projects and individual bursaries to improve skills across the pharmacy sector. Registered charity number 1148335.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pharmacy-research-uk-announces-first-project-grant-recipient/feed/02017 RPS Practice Research Awardhttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/2017-rps-practice-research-award/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/2017-rps-practice-research-award/#respondSun, 03 Sep 2017 20:00:47 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7567Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s RPS Practice Research Award is Dr Sarah Slight. The award is intended to recognise individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of pharmacy research and who have the potential to become a leader in the field. Last year’s […]

]]>Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s RPS Practice Research Award is Dr Sarah Slight. The award is intended to recognise individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of pharmacy research and who have the potential to become a leader in the field. Last year’s winner Dr Debi Bhattacharya is now a valued member of Pharmacy Research UK’s Scientific Advisory Panel.

Dr Sarah Slight is a Reader in Pharmacy Practice at Newcastle University and Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. The panel noted Sarah’s extensive history of peer reviewing grant proposals and her profound record of international collaborations and influence on public policy as reasons for winning the award.

Each year, the winner of the award presents a lecture on a topic related to their research field. This year Sarah will be presenting her lecture at this year’s RPS Winter Summit at Mary Ward House in London. Entitled ‘How can health information technologies improve patient safety?’ the lecture will draw on Sarah’s international experience around the topic of medication errors and health information technology.

Asked about winning the award, Dr Slight enthused:

“I’m extremely honoured to receive this award from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. I owe a great deal of credit to my research group at the School of Pharmacy at Newcastle University and feel very fortunate to have worked alongside excellent colleagues both nationally and internationally. As an academic pharmacist, I also feel very privileged that our research has improved the lives of patients and their families in many different ways.”

The winner of the award was announced at the RPS Conference to rapturous applause. Dr Slight’s lecture will be a highlight of the RPS Winter Summit in December, capping off a busy 2017 which also saw the University of Durham’s Pharmacy School move to Newcastle University.

Notes to Editors:

PRUK is the principle funder of pharmacy research in the UK. Founded as a result of a merger in 2012 of two previous research funding charities, PRUK has a broad programme of research in place. PRUK funds both research projects and individual bursaries to improve skills across the pharmacy sector. Registered charity number 1148335.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/2017-rps-practice-research-award/feed/0Researchfish 2017 Submission Roundhttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/researchfish-2017-submission-round/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/researchfish-2017-submission-round/#respondMon, 07 Aug 2017 08:21:58 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7538This year, the 2017 Researchfish submission round launches on Monday 7th August and all PRUK funded researchers will be contacted very soon. The deadline to submit the project information is Friday 13th October. All researchers who have been funded by PRUK are required to submit information against their Researchfish portfolios on an annual basis. […]

]]>This year, the 2017 Researchfish submission round launches on Monday 7th August and all PRUK funded researchers will be contacted very soon. The deadline to submit the project information is Friday 13th October. All researchers who have been funded by PRUK are required to submit information against their Researchfish portfolios on an annual basis.

The purpose of this exercise is so:

Researchers have the opportunity to provide updates on what outputs have arisen from their research, so that this is all documented in one location. Researchers can also link their outputs to other projects that they are involved in and also confirm whether they have obtained further funding or progressed with their research down the line.

As a funder, PRUK can gain a deeper understanding as to what has arisen from the research we have funded. The PRUK team review all the information submitted via Researchfish to identify any outputs or updates that have either influenced research, policy or practice, in order to demonstrate the measure of the impact and how researchers can be supported to maximise dissemination.

It is vitally important that our researchers give us this information, so that we can provide our supporters and Trustees with evidence that the research we fund is achieving its goal of improving the health of the public through excellence in pharmacy research. If we fail to capture and share the impact of our research, then it will become increasingly difficult to raise the funds we will need to invest in future research. The information that PRUK obtains through Researchfish is therefore crucial to realising the impact that PRUK funded research has.

For further information on how and why PRUK use Researchfish, you can read more on the Researchfish page of our website.

For any queries about submitting an update or other technical issues, please contact Researchfish directly.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/researchfish-2017-submission-round/feed/0MEMORABLE Interviewshttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/memorable-interviews/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/memorable-interviews/#respondFri, 04 Aug 2017 11:54:20 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7530In June this year, the BBC ran a rare feature on pharmacy research and had an excellent short segment documenting the MEMORABLE project led by Dr Ian Maidment. Dr Maidment is Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at Aston University’s School of Life and Health Sciences, and a former beneficiary of Pharmacy Research UK’s project grants. […]

]]>In June this year, the BBC ran a rare feature on pharmacy research and had an excellent short segment documenting the MEMORABLE project led by Dr Ian Maidment. Dr Maidment is Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at Aston University’s School of Life and Health Sciences, and a former beneficiary of Pharmacy Research UK’s project grants. One of his colleagues on the project is Sylvia Bailey, who sits on various research review panels assessing Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) credentials. Sylvia is also a member of the Pharmacy Research UK Scientific Advisory Panel.

We spoke to both of them to find out a little more about the project, the big issues we face in medications management, what this means for pharmacy research and how policy needs to change to deal with the pressures the system is under.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/memorable-interviews/feed/0HSRPP 2018 Call for Abstractshttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/hsrpp-2018-call-abstracts/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/hsrpp-2018-call-abstracts/#respondMon, 31 Jul 2017 11:00:18 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7506The 2018 Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice (HSRPP) conference will be hosted by Newcastle University on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th April. The HSRPP conference presents a unique opportunity for researchers within health service and pharmacy practice research to network with each other and also provides a platform for peers to give presentations on […]

]]>The 2018 Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice (HSRPP) conference will be hosted by Newcastle University on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th April. The HSRPP conference presents a unique opportunity for researchers within health service and pharmacy practice research to network with each other and also provides a platform for peers to give presentations on upcoming research in the area. This year the theme is Innovative Healthcare in the 21st Century: providing smarter, safer and patient-centred health services.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/hsrpp-2018-call-abstracts/feed/0PRUK funded research published in the journal Pharmacy 2017http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pruk-funded-research-published-journal-pharmacy-2017/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pruk-funded-research-published-journal-pharmacy-2017/#respondFri, 28 Jul 2017 10:19:27 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7491We are delighted to announce that PRUK funded research from Dr Wing Man Lau from the University of Reading has been published in the journal Pharmacy 2017, 5(3), 41; doi: 10.3390/pharmacy5030041 The study examines the relationship between community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitudes to information provision and self-reported counselling behaviours in relation to topical corticosteroids and adjunct therapy in […]

]]>We are delighted to announce that PRUK funded research from Dr Wing Man Lau from the University of Reading has been published in the journal Pharmacy2017, 5(3), 41; doi: 10.3390/pharmacy5030041

The study examines the relationship between community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitudes to information provision and self-reported counselling behaviours in relation to topical corticosteroids and adjunct therapy in atopic eczema.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pruk-funded-research-published-journal-pharmacy-2017/feed/0Vacancy: Communications and Fundraising Assistanthttp://pharmacyresearchuk.org/vacancy-communications-fundraising-assistant/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/vacancy-communications-fundraising-assistant/#respondFri, 28 Jul 2017 08:42:30 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7479Communications and Fundraising Assistant Pharmacy Research UK Contract type: 12 month Fixed Term Contract Salary: £22,000 per annum + excellent benefits Location: London Pharmacy Research UK is the principal research charity supporting pharmacists and pharmacy to improve healthcare for the benefit of patients and the public. The PRUK organisation is hosted by the Royal […]

Pharmacy Research UK

Contract type: 12 month Fixed Term Contract

Salary: £22,000 per annum + excellent benefits

Location: London

Pharmacy Research UK is the principal research charity supporting pharmacists and pharmacy to improve healthcare for the benefit of patients and the public. The PRUK organisation is hosted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society with full access to the RPS benefits and support and recruitment for this role will be managed by the RPS.

This role will be responsible for the coordination of the charity communications and administration around fundraising activities. The post holder will help raise the profile of the charity through communication channels including web and social media and increase income by supporting various fundraising streams.

The successful candidate will be both proactive and analytical, with first class digital communication, social media and research skills. Ideally you will have previous experience in a marketing or fundraising role and an interest in the science of pharmacy is essential.

For more information on this role, have a look at the full job description and find details on how to apply at:

Application is by CV and covering letter/supporting statement. Please note we will not accept CV’s without a covering letter.

]]>http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/vacancy-communications-fundraising-assistant/feed/0PRUK Newsletter July 2017http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pruk-newsletter-july-2017/
http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/pruk-newsletter-july-2017/#respondTue, 18 Jul 2017 13:07:56 +0000http://pharmacyresearchuk.org/?p=7426PRUK July e-newsletter is published today, with details of HSRPP 2018, being profiled in the AMRC Charity Impact report, published research by PRUK researchers, a pharmacy research project on BBC Breakfast, the expansion of our SAP, research news and events and an inspiring blog by Dr Frances Notman on her journey to getting her PhD.

]]>PRUK July e-newsletteris published today, with details of HSRPP 2018, being profiled in the AMRC Charity Impact report, published research by PRUK researchers, a pharmacy research project on BBC Breakfast, the expansion of our SAP, research news and events and an inspiring blog by Dr Frances Notman on her journey to getting her PhD.